Sorenson Media Appoints Digital Media Industry Veteran Marcus Liassides as CEO
Former Specific Media and Move Networks Executive Brings Extensive Technical and Business Development Expertise to Leading Video Encoding Provider
Salt Lake City, UT(08 Oct 2013)
Sorenson Media announced today that Marcus Liassides has joined the company as president and Chief Executive Officer. Liassides comes to Sorenson Media with more than 15 years of diverse, successful experience in all facets of the digital media industry, including significant expertise in over-the-top (OTT) video platform development. Liassides will direct all areas of the company's operations and strategic initiatives.
“I am honored to join this dynamic company at a time of tremendous progress and opportunity in the industry,” said Liassides. “Sorenson Media has maintained a leadership position in the video arena for almost two decades, evolving with new consumer and commercial demands. I am excited to execute this company’s vision to innovate and deploy digital media products that fuel the next generation of high-quality content delivery across all connected devices and platforms in and out of the home.”
Liassides’ expertise encompasses many facets of the digital media ecosystem including video encoding, delivery, connected TVs and set-top boxes, IPTV platforms and applications, search and recommendation platforms, targeted video ad serving and social TV. His unique background and experience will compliment the legacy of leadership Sorenson Media has established in bringing online and mobile video into the economic and cultural mainstream.
“Marcus’ passion and commitment for delivering TV Everywhere experiences makes him an ideal fit for this position,” said James Lee Sorenson, founder and chairman of Sorenson Media. “He is an expert at identifying opportunities in the market and developing the technology and corporate strategy to seize those transformative moments. As global demands for online video solutions increase at a rapid pace, Marcus’ vision and direction will enable us to extend our leadership position and fuel innovation in the delivery of media to all connected screens.”
Most recently, Liassides was executive vice president for online advertising giant Specific Media and president and CEO of Xumo, both entities being part of the Interactive Media Holdings family. In this role, Liassides leveraged his experience and understanding of digital media to bring advertisers a more holistic view of their audience’s changing media consumption. In a fragmented media landscape, Liassides was instrumental in bringing together device manufacturers, content owners, app developers and media agencies to explore new ways of identifying and reaching consumers across multiple screens. He led the development of a connected TV technology platform to power both Over-The-Top (OTT) broadcast and Video-On-Demand (VOD) solutions with dynamic ad insertion, content recommendations and social functionality offering content owners and advertisers new ways to reach and engage with consumers.
Liassides has also played a key role in developing other digital media businesses. An early innovator in the IPTV industry, Liassides founded Inuk Networks in 2004 with investment capital from Welsh broadcaster S4C and Sir Terry Matthews, one of the UK’s leading technology entrepreneurs. Inuk Networks provided digital IPTV, phone and Internet services to operators around the world and its award winning “Freewire” service to over 40,000 students in the UK. The company was acquired in 2008 by leading video streaming company, Move Networks. Liassides continued to lead innovation, becoming the CEO of Move Networks in 2009 as the company delivered video solutions for virtually every major media and entertainment company including Disney (ABC and ESPN), Fox and Warner Brothers. Recognizing consumer’s growing demand for second and even third screen video experiences, Echostar acquired Move Networks in 2010.
About Sorenson Media
Sorenson Media is an award-winning provider of the highest quality differentiated video encoding and workflow solutions. With highly scalable cloud- and server-based transcoding solutions, desktop encoding applications, content management and delivery services, Sorenson Media empowers video professionals and businesses of all sizes to easily and cost-effectively encode, transcode, manage and deliver the highest-quality video — online and to mobile devices. Since 1995, Sorenson Media has been at the forefront of bringing online and mobile video into the economic and cultural mainstream. As video rapidly proliferates online, businesses and video professionals increasingly rely on Sorenson Media’s innovative solutions and legacy of trust to meet their evolving needs. For more information visit www.sorensonmedia.com.